At Legal Crossroads: Tang Law and Foreigners in Seventh-Century Turfan

AURELIA DOCHNAL considers the conception of foreigners in Tang dynasty China. (Image: Tang-era statue of a foreigner. Wikimedia Commons) The Tang dynasty is commonly known to have been a Chinese golden age, a period of vast wealth, cultural richness, and cosmopolitan cultural exchange in Chinese history. Foreigners visited the empire, shared their religious traditions and traded their goods, lending the Tang great prestige and influence … Continue reading At Legal Crossroads: Tang Law and Foreigners in Seventh-Century Turfan

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Discourses on Salt and Iron

by Tyler J. Hayward Introduction to the Text             Huan Kuan’s (first century BCE) Discourses on Salt and Iron (鹽鐵論Yantie Lun) documents a series of debates held during the Shiyuan era (86-81 BCE) between the Lord Grand Secretary Sang Hongyang and the Ruist literati.[i] These debates, while initially focused on the usefulness of government monopolies in the salt, iron, and alcohol industries, open up into … Continue reading Discourses on Salt and Iron

China’s Gamble of the Century: Five Years into the Belt and Road Initiative

QI HANG CHEN analyzes the Belt and Road Initiative five years after its announcement to gauge the early economic, environmental, and strategic returns. Introduction The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), also known as One Belt, One Road (OBOR), is China’s most ambitious infrastructure development project. It is also the largest overseas investment plan by any single country, dwarfing the Marshall Plan in comparison. It will have … Continue reading China’s Gamble of the Century: Five Years into the Belt and Road Initiative